The world of One Piece has seen the rise and fall of many powerful legends over the years. Some, such as Gol D. Roger, instilled their name into the histories by immortalizing themselves while others, such as Rocks' name vanished without leaving any traces behind. Oda has made sure to write quite a lot of incredible characters from the past who have laid a mark on history and his story. One such character is a samurai from the land of Wano, Ryuma.
Ryuma was introduced to the fans quite early into the story, before the events of the Paramount War. He was a character who was brought up during the Thriller Bark arc, where he also played a significant role as a zombie. However, the true legend of Ryuma happened centuries ago in the One Piece world and he certainly goes down as one of the most legendary figures in Oda's story.
The Legend Of Ryuma
Ryuma was known to be a legendary Samurai who belonged to the Shimotsuki Clan of Wano Country. He existed long ago when Wano was known to be the country of gold. In One Piece's Wano Country arc, Onimaru touches upon this and mentions to Zoro that in the past, the country was known as the Land of Gold. Back then, Ryuma was known to be an extremely powerful Samurai, quite possibly the best in the world. He wielded the blade Shusui, which was known to be one of the 21 O Wazamono grade swords. According to Onimaru, Ryuma had many legends and through countless fights, he blackened his blade. While he had many legends, he came to be known worldwide for slaying a dragon in a single strike over the Flower Capital.
This feat immortalized him and, after he died, he came to be worshipped as the God of the Blade. It is believed that his skill with the sword was quite possibly the very best in the history of the series. Ryuma's sword, Shusui, was then considered to be a national treasure of the country. This was further confirmed in the Wano Country arc, where Zoro returned the sword to the country and claimed Enma, Oden's beloved sword, as its replacement.
Ryuma's Corpse
Centuries after his death, his corpse was dug up by Gecko Moria after his defeat to Kaido in the New World. Moria acquired both his and Oars' bodies from Wano Country. As fans know already, he then proceeded to head to the Paradise section of the Grand Lind and set his camp in the Florian Triangle. There, he ruled the waters for several years until the Straw Hat Pirates eventually came across it. Using the powers of his Kage Kage no Mi, Moria was able to reanimate Ryuma by using Brook's shadow. After trying to reclaim his shadow from Ryuma several times, Brook eventually let Zoro fight Ryuma.
The two fought each other in a very high-octane battle which resulted in the Wano Samurai losing the duel and entrusting his blade Shusui to him. Later on, Zoro took this blade with him to Wano and, there, returned it to Kozuki Hiyori. As its replacement, he was given Enma, another one of the 21 O Wazamono grade swords. Ryuma's corpse might not be in Wano, however, Shusui has been returned to the country and most likely lies in Ringo currently.
Ryuma And Zoro
Ryuma and Zoro are greatly connected to one another and this is no surprise to any One Piece fan. To begin with, the two look similar to each other in more than one way. When Oda drew his one-shot, named Monsters, he drew Ryuma looking extremely identical to Zoro. Later on, in the Thriller Bark arc, Brook mentioned that their style of fighting is quite similar to each other. As such, he came to the conclusion that the battle will be extremely intense and will and rather quickly. Furthermore, Zoro managed to earn Ryuma's respect, which connected the two in an intriguing way.
However, it wasn't until the Wano Country arc that the fans found out about even deeper connections between the two. Zoro brought Shusui with him to Wano and returned it to the country. Surprisingly, Kawamatsu noted that Zoro's physical appearance was just like that of Ryuma. In fact, Ryuma was also known to be a one-eyed samurai, just like Zoro. At the same time, the two were said to be like two peas in a pod. This is likely to do with the fact that a member of the Shimotsuki Family from Wano defected from the country and gave birth to either Zoro, or one of Zoro's parents in the East Blue. Zoro is, most certainly, linked to the Shimotsuki Family and is a descendant of the God of the Blade, Ryuma.